When the Righteous Fall
by LaFrae
Summary: It's been seven years since the Pevensie's victory over the White Witch, and the Golden Age of Narnia has been more then great. But with the loss of someone close and important to them, they will change and Narnia with it. What will the King and Queens of Narnia do? Will they find a way to move on? And maybe along the way, a certain King and Queen will find love...


This is my third submission on and I hope you enjoy it. This was originally a request from a friend, but I decided to take the tiny details and make it bigger and more original to me. As per usual, this is adapted from both the books & movies, specifically _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe_. As the story that occurs happens directly after the first book, most sources will be adapted from the movie rather than the book (as my memory picked to remember the movie rather than the book), also that I am also trying to appeal to those who watched the movie and not read the books.

All the Pevensie's ages are two years older than what they were in the books. And there will be no _Prince Caspien_. As the storyline changes by my ending of the first book, instead of the Pevensie's choosing to go into the wardrobe many years later, they're are influenced by a certain event under different circumstances. You'll understand once you read.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the world of Narnia or anything in it except everything I create within this story, which is multiple areas, characters and the plot of course.

**-When the Righteous Fall-**

Edmund the Just, Prince of Narnia and second youngest of the Pevensie family, found himself riding his famed steed, Philip, through the thickest mist he'd ever seen, guiding convoy back to Cair Paravel.

Originally, Edmund took the liberty of leading a convoy delivering "Precious Cargo" with a caravan to city-state a few hours from Cair Paravel, and return within the day. Instead, the crew felt the need to spend a few hours at the local pub. With daylight wasted and the darkness beginning to settle, the ride back would be slow and dangerous.

Embarking on the journey after the crew had their last pint, a mist began to roll in, making visibility even worse than what it had already been. Half an hour passed by and the mist hadn't cleared, instead it got thicker. Lamps were hung on the caravan and the leading men held torches.

Edmund's eyes were glued to the ground, making sure he is keeping track of the path, there was a river to their left, if he guided them too far to the left, him and the caravan might fall in. They decided to kick the pace up a notch as the crew were beginning to tire, and the last thing they plan on doing is spending the night in the forest.

"Your Majesty! How long do you suppose until we arrive?" asked driver of the caravan, bringing his hand over his mouth to mask a yawn.

"I reckon around an hour and a half at least." He replied, earning a few groans from behind him. A horse steered its way so it was walking beside Edmund, it was the leader of the crew, Mac. He was dressed in chainmail and metal armour, a precaution he said. Edmund too was dressed in his armour; of a lighter variant of course, no need to wear proper armour for a delivery mission.

"Your Majesty." Mac announced with a nod, Edmund nodding back.

"Mind if I speak and ask freely? This ride is going to be a while, might as well converse." Edmund gave him the go ahead, tearing his eyes off the ground, he trusted Philip to keep him on the path.

"Is it true you originated from an area called En-Glande, and arrived here through a mystical portal in the form of a wardrobe?" he asked. Edmund's attention was now directly given to Mac; he'd never heard of the Wardrobe in a long while and came as a surprise. Nor had he ever remembered telling anyone where he'd come from, he only heard of Lucy telling Mr. Tumnus of a place called _Spare Oom_, which was understandably the mispronounced form.

"Yes, I originated from _England_-" Edmund answered, emphasizing the country "and yes I came here through a wardrobe." Mac nodded in response, bringing his hand to his stubble, stroking it as he comes up with another question.

"Why is your title a Prince and the Princess Lucy a Princess? I assumed Aslan claimed you all as Kings and Queens of Narnia." This question was not a surprise, it is actually frequently asked.

"My sister, Lucy, and I suggested that it would be proper to have us as Prince and Princess, as there should really only be one King and one Queen." Edmund replied simply; it was the generic response given whenever they were asked.

"Understandable Your Majesty." Mac continued to go _20 Questions _on Edmund, and he kept on answering. All the questions weren't extremely personal nor compromising, so Edmund didn't feel the need to not answer.

Another half-hour passed and Mac finally had a question that Edmund didn't know how to respond to.

"Could you repeat the question Mac?" Edmund requested, he hadn't known if he was just hearing things or not.

"Since King Peter and Queen Susan are King and Queen, aren't they to be bound in marriage to solidify their positions as King and Queen? You can only become King if you marry the Queen, and you can only become Queen if you marry the Queen." Mac repeated, although Edmund knew this wasn't the same thing he said, it was of the same subject. Edmund was hoping to never receive this question, as it was difficult to explain. In Narnia, love and marriage between siblings were not looked down upon, although parents with their children are very much looked down upon. So it wouldn't be surprising to be asked why they hadn't married.

"I am not of liberty to answer that Mac, that is a question only King Peter or Queen Susan can answer." Edmund felt bad for lying to him, but it would be too difficult to explain, but there was more to it as well.

The Pevensie's promised to not bring too much of their culture and world to Narnia, or else they could ruin the very things that make Narnia _Narnia_. Even if it was illegal on Earth, it isn't in Narnia, and they vowed to not change their culture. It was not also the reason why they had not talked much about their world, nor have they introduced their modern methods. When they left England, they were in a very developed and modernized world, years ahead of Narnia in technology. And they did not want to interfere with their development; they wanted Narnia to develop themselves on their own like their world throughout history.

Although it doesn't explain why Peter and Susan doesn't marry, it's been seven years, Peter just reached the age of 22 and Susan at 21, and they've been avoiding the question and thought of marriage for years. They knew they shouldn't, as they are siblings, they grew up knowing it was wrong and it wasn't going to change.

Edmund chuckled as a certain memory came to mind, it was their fourth year ruling Narnia and Lucy noticed something…

_Edmund was sitting at the dining room table, scribbling away on a piece of parchment, documenting something about diplomatic relations with another city-state, when Lucy entered wearing a new dress she'd picked from the market._

"_Hi Eddie!" she greeted cheerfully, a large smile on her face as she twirls, her dress spinning beautifully with her. "What do you think?"_

"_Beautiful Lucy." He answered tearing his eyes away from her and back to the parchment, dipping his quill into the ink and writing again. He would've continued had the parchment not been snatched from under his hand, thankfully the quill wasn't touching the parchment. "Hey!" he reacted, glaring at Lucy who had his parchment in fingers._

"_Would you relax Ed? We're on vacation remember? There is no need to work." She explained in annoyance, setting the parchment on the table, away from Edmund. Lucy pulled a chair out and brought her knees to her chest before speaking "Lets gossip."_

_He set the quill down next to the inkbottle, shifted his chair to face Lucy, laid back, and rested on his elbow on the table before replying._

_"Yes. Let's." he said dully. Lucy frowned at his attitude; she then furrowed her eyebrows as she tries to come up with something to talk about. Her face lit up when she found something when she saw Peter in the other room._

"_You know I noticed something the other day…" she left it hanging hoping for Edmund to ask. Rolling his eyes_

"_What?"_

"_Peter and Susan."_

"_They were bickering at each other again?" he asked, half-expecting her to say yes._

"_Nooo...something…better? If you look at it that way, besides, they don't fight much, if not at all anymore." Edmund pondered on this for a while before nodding in response_

"_You're right, in fact they are agreeing with each other more than not, it's strange isn't it. It just felt like a few weeks ago that they were fighting over who was in charge when mum and dad left us alone at home."_

"_The other morning, I don't know if you noticed it, but when we came downstairs for breakfast when Susan called us, I expected Susan to be the one cooking, but when we came downstairs, Peter was there too, and just finished cooking. Peter almost never cooks. Then Susan said Peter wanted to help with breakfast. Then after breakfast he even did the dishes. Just like he's going to now." She gestured to the kitchen behind Edmund. He turned around to take a look, and Peter was by the sink, talking to Susan who was doing the dishes. She then put the dish down and gave Peter a kiss on the cheek and thanked him before walking away. Peter then started washing the dishes with a small smile on his face._

"_What the…"_

"_Peter is really becoming the hubby, isn't he?" Lucy joked, bringing them both into laughter. Once their laughter had ended, Lucy asked a serious question._

"_You have to admit, their relationship has definitely taken a large turn around ever since we came to Narnia, mind the first few days of course."_

"_He really has, they've been talking more, connecting more, spending more time together, and they're like best friends now."_

_Lucy agreed then asked if Edmund could get her a cup of water. Agreeing, he set off to the kitchen, returning within the minute with one goblet in both hands, sipping on one of them. Then Lucy realised something new…_

"_Do you think Peter and Susan love each other? Not Storge love." Edmund sputtered his drink and dropped the goblet in the process with a loud clang. Susan heard the noise from the study and came running in, noticing what it was, she grabbed a rag hanging on a chair and went to clean it. Edmund apologized as she approached; backing away and saw Peter walk past him as well, with a rag in his hand._

_They both met on the floor and Susan was the first to talk._

"_It's okay Peter. You're already doing the dishes, I can do this." She insisted._

"_It's alright Susan, I can do both. I know back in the castle you've been under a lot of stress, take this time to relax. Besides, I know your just dying to get back to that book of yours." Peter said sweetly, grabbing the rag from her hand when she was too busy looking into his eyes, trying to understand why he's been so nice to her. He dried the floor and picked up the goblet, standing together with Susan._

_Peter returned to the dishes whilst Susan returned to the study with a smile plastered on her face._

_Edmund was just standing, astonished, when Lucy practically threw all sorts of hand signals that scream 'You see what I mean!'. He took a seat and handed Lucy her goblet._

"_You can skip the loving Lucy, they're practically married." He said bring his hand to his face while Lucy laughed._

Edmund laughed at the memory, they were in fact practically married, they just don't know it, nor do them, Edmund, and Lucy know if they love each other, just hadn't known it. Lucy and Edmund contemplated on the idea of both of them being a couple or even being married, because it looked to have been bound to happen. They came to a conclusion that they wouldn't mind, because if they love each other, then they shouldn't interfere. But they didn't want to become matchmakers; instead they waited, to see if either would make a move.

Three years later, nothing has changed.

"Your Majesty. You okay?" Edmund shook out of his trance and looked back at Mac.

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."

"For nearly 20 minutes? Hell, I think anyone would want to know what you've been thinking about." He chuckled.

"Just about my family." Mac nodded, he understood how one could get so caught up in family.

"I know how you feel. You see, I'm a father to two beautiful daughters."

"Congratulations." Edmund said, shaking his hand.

"Thank you, Sir. So I know what it is like to get so absorbed with family, they take so much time from your life and make you sacrifice so many things." Edmund understood this, they had a responsibility to their new family, which was Narnia, and so they abandoned their lives on Earth to commit to Narnia.

"And I don't regret any of it." He said thoughtfully and smiling. Edmund smiled as well.

"Nor do I."

Suddenly, Philip felt reluctant to move ahead. Stopping the convoy in its tracks.

"Hey! Why'd we stop, Your Majesty?" asked a man from behind Edmund. Edmund bent down to look at Philip.

"Hey Philip, everything alright?"

"No. Definitely not. Something does not feel right." Philip said, looking back and forth between left and right. Edmund sat up and looked around, he noticed a dim light through the mist, like a fire. Then what sounded like a bow firing reached his ears.

"Aaaaargh!" Edmund screamed as he felt an arrow pierce through the chainmail on his arm. Falling off his horse, the whole convoy began to panic and scramble.

"RUN! Get out of here!" Edmund ordered as he tried to get to his feet. Darkly dressed figures began to descend from the hills in swarms, attacking the convoy.

Edmund reached his footing and watched as Mac fell off his horse when an arrow bounced right off his chest and to the ground. He helped Mac up to avoid his horse when it was shot with too many arrows. It fell to the ground, nearly hitting both Edmund and Mac. Edmund looked around him, it was a massacre, and the men attacking the convoy mercilessly, killing without thinking; it was a brutal sight. Edmund went to mount his horse when he felt someone pull him down.

He fell to his back, letting out a loud groan, and came face to face with a man in a silver mask. Edmund scrambled to get away from him, drawing his sword in the process, his left arm was powerless but his right wasn't. The other man also drew his sword, he instantly shouted at Mac

"MAC! GET OUT OF HERE! YOU TOO PHILIP!" they were both reluctant to leave, and then the sword fight started.

"NO SIR. I CANNOT LEAVE YOU!" he responded. His voice trying to break through all the battle cries and dying screams.

Edmund was fighting a losing battle but he was fighting

"I ORDER YOU TO LEAVE. THINK OF YOUR DAUGHTERS MAC!" Mac's eyes widened, then another masked man came to attack Mac, he dodged his swings and kicked him away, mounting Philip afterwards.

"RUN! TELL PETER, SUSAN, AND LUCY, I LOVE THEM!" a tear ran down Mac's face as he sped from the battle. A few of his convoy members were ahead of him, they left earlier, but behind him he was chased by a few of the men, but Mac was quicker, they wouldn't catch up, Philip is a quick horse.

Edmund continued to fight for time, for the rest of the living convoy members to mount their horses and attempt to bail. He was grateful when he realized nearly half of the convoy made it out.

Their swords clashed hard, making it a contesting battle, one Edmund would surely lose without the aid of his other arm. So he dropped his sword, making the other slip behind him and lose his footing. Edmund went to execute him, but before he could, he felt his leg give out and another scream escape his lungs. Another arrow has struck him.

By this time the other swordsmen got to his feet and swung his sword at Edmund. Edmund dropped into a roll, making his sword hit the gravel loudly. He went to strike at the other man once more, but felt his arm fly forwards as another arrow strikes him.

"Arghh!" he groans loudly, dropping his sword and onto his knee. He could hear shuffling around him, he was surrounded, there was no escape. The man he'd been fighting approached him through the crowd. He brought the tip of his blade to his chin, bringing it up to face him.

"Prince of Narnia? I laugh at your ability to fight." Edmund said nothing and just glared at him, then the sky. He knew he was going to die, he knew he was going to die right there. But he wasn't going to die with regrets.

"Prince Edmund the Just, the Righteous, the Loyal, please enlighten me. Why do you do this? What do you fight for? Who do you fight for?" he asked in what he assumed was curiosity. "And choose your words carefully, those might be your last." He brought his sword to his hip, pointing at Edmund.

But Edmund knew exactly what he was going to say, he looked at the man with the most seriousness he's ever had getting to his feet slowly, a few gasps being heard around.

"For Peter. For Susan." He groans as he removes his chest plate and threw it to the ground.

"For Lucy. For Aslan." Now fully standing, he looks straight through the eye holes of the mans mask.

"And…For Narnia!" and those were his last words. The sword was soon shoved through his chainmail, straight into his heart. He withdrew the sword, and Edmund fell onto his knees, and then the ground. Seconds later, he had his last breath, his family, his brother, his sisters, his parents, and Aslan being the last things on his mind.

Edmund the Just, the most Righteous and Loyal Prince of Narnia, had fallen.


End file.
